Is there anywhere civilized left where we might travel to escape SPORTS?
Jun 7th, 2002, 09:21 AM
#1
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Is there anywhere civilized left where we might travel to escape SPORTS?
Well, I’m getting old, but it just seems a shame to me to see all this time and energy wasted on something as inconsequential as sports. For years I honestly thought that the obsession with organized sports was purely an American fixation. Then I traveled to England and found out the sickness is even worse there. I was in London in the past few weeks and folks, it’s downright weird. How can people put so much time and energy into something that is so stunningly inconsequential? People missing work, betting the rent, getting into rows and punch-outs all for something that 99% of the “avid” fans will forget by next year.<BR><BR>We visited some of our old haunts, mostly quiet little neighborhood pubs, only to find that they’d been transformed into mini-arenas. Two or more big-screen televisions blaring out the scores, conversation was impossible, and in several places trying to get a beer was hopeless, as the staff were the ones closest to the telly!<BR><BR>We moved on to Paris and found more of the same, though granted it had not yet been tweaked to the hysterical extremes we found in England.<BR><BR>In the States we yammer ceaselessly about the Super Bowl. People who don’t know a field goal from a touchdown go all out like it was Christmas. Many miss work for a couple of days because of it.<BR><BR>If you’re an American who falls prey to this, ask yourself if you remember what teams even PLAYED last year, let alone which won? How ‘bout the year before? Who took part in the winning play?<BR><BR>On the other hand there are the real nutters, generally middle age men who couldn’t bend over and touch their toes let alone play football. These guys can quote facts and figures out the yin-yang but would be hard pressed to tell you the dates of their kid’s birthdays and how old they are on any particular day.<BR><BR>Moreover, it only seems to be getting worse.<BR><BR>Is this strictly a Western Cultural phenom? We’re wondering if our efforts to travel and escape this trivial pursuit is pointless. Is there anywhere left in the English speaking world to escape it? No, I don’t mean a secluded island. I mean a metropolitan area where one can enjoy the delectations of a civilized city.<BR>
Jun 7th, 2002, 09:31 AM
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As one who used to love pro sports when I was young but now finds watching overpaid men (in the U.S. anyway) kick and throw balls around to be profoundly uninteresting, I say Amen to your plea.<BR><BR>I find it bizarre, for example, that Sports occupies one third of most news programs, along with News and Weather. Why not News, Weather, and Entertainment -- with pro sports being just one facet of Entertainment -- or News, Weather, and the Arts, or, my preference, News, Weather and Music? 
Jun 7th, 2002, 09:32 AM
#3
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I know what you mean. Sometimes it gets to me too. But it is really just a matter of different interests. I am also bothered by the obsession with movies and movie stars, and the way some people seem to talk of nothing else. To me, that seems more inconsequential than sports. But I think we are in the minority here. I am sure we all have interests that somebody would find hard to understand.
Jun 7th, 2002, 09:40 AM
#4
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As a well-known British football manager once said<BR><BR>"football is not a matter of life or death... it's much more important than that".<BR><BR>And if you're hoping Europe is your salvation, then you have no chance. Football is a continent (nay world-wide) obsession. And why not? Beats going to work and doing the gardening.
Jun 7th, 2002, 10:05 AM
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HALLELUJAH CAPO! (And Oh, Please):<BR><BR>Sports and entertainment are interchangeable now. We see it in every level of our society, from grade school up and it is incessant. <BR><BR>In addition, Kate, as far as “it beats work and…gardening,” I doubt it. You must have a really boring job and a very ugly garden.<BR><BR>Even so, is there NOTHING else to do? Learn a new language, talk to your family or friends, and learn to play a musical instrument, read the classics, ANYTHING but the ceaseless yammering. I contend that with minimal editing you could find a sound byte of any sports figure from the past 25 years and play the same clip on the radio today and no one would notice. “Well, we gotta great defense. If we can just keep them from scoring, I think we can go all the way.”<BR><BR>If I were Emperor my first order of business would be to make it illegal to show any basketball coach on television. It is so obvious that they are playing to the camera so that people across the country can watch their infantile fits and shenanigans. And speaking of basketball, why is it so important for the announcers to prattle on and on? Seems to me that a true aficionado of the sport would do as well to watch it with the sound off. Is that over-paid announcer telling you anything that you don’t already know? Is there something that they can see that the viewer can’t?<BR><BR>Sadly and obviously, there is no respite in Europe. I concur that if anything, as hard as it is to imagine, it’s worse there. If all the people who watch and talk sports actually played the games it would be one thing, but talk about living vicariously through others.<BR>
Jun 7th, 2002, 10:15 AM
#6
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Oh please,<BR>Last year Adam Vinitari (sp?) kicked the game winning field goal with the clock ticking away (I still thought there were 5 seconds left) as the NE Patriots shocked the St. Louis Rams. <BR>The year before that Trent Dilfer led the Ravens over my beloved NY Giants. <BR>I can go on ....
Jun 7th, 2002, 10:19 AM
#7
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Why do you expect this to change? Sports have been around forever, and society's viewpoint hasn't changed, just maybe the means of seeing them (TV, etc.)<BR><BR>Gladiators, Jousting, Bull fights...didn't the Aztecs or Mayan play a form of soccer/football, to the death. HELLO! What about the olympics? They've been around forever. The gladiator, the knight, the matedor were all worshiped by the people and praised by the royalty. Don't expect human behavior to change! If they could have, they probably would have had trading cards for the top gladiator or most valient knight. The display of admiration may have changed, but people haven't!
Jun 7th, 2002, 10:49 AM
#10
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Sure, it’s true that sports zealots have been around forever. However, things have changed with modernity. Obviously the media has changed, but until very recently poeple have not had the luxury of leisure time to the extent of today. Even 50 years ago a man who had the time to watch 2 or even 4 football games over the course of a normal weekend would’ve starved. People used to have to actually do some sort of physical work either on their farm, their land, their house, or their job.<BR><BR>An English friend once said that many in his circle had the perception that if one gives the American male a twelve pack, an SUV in the driveway, a big-screen t.v. and a recliner to set in front of it, that you could steal everything else he owns from under his nose. He might be right.<BR><BR>(I saw a tee-shirt in London that said, “THE NFL: RUGBY FOR WIMPS!) It made me laugh out loud and resulted in a conversation with the young man wearing the shirt. He honestly asked me why Americans were so hyped up over these “tough guys” who are basically wearing armor? Hardly any body part is unpadded. I told him he was talking to the wrong guy, but I agreed he had a good point.)<BR><BR>I think part of my personal irritation with sports are the “athletes” themselves, millionaires with too much attitude, too much brawn, and precious little brain being revered as gods by children who are only emulating their spoiled parents. I fear that no good can come of it. <BR>
Jun 7th, 2002, 12:54 PM
#13
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Last time I checked, sports were a part of a nation's culture. I have enjoyed seeing hurling (which doesn't exist in the US) in Ireland, cricket in England and sitting amongst rabid figure skating fans in Canada (we're not nearly that passionate in the US about our skating. If you step back and recognize that you're learning more about a nation's people and their passions, you might see it differently and actually LEARN something.
Jun 7th, 2002, 02:50 PM
#18
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Are you serious, Oh Please? Did you truly not realise when you booked your trip to Europe that it would coincide with the World Cup? It's only every four years, you know - people do get excited, but it's hardly an everyday thing. You might not want to go to Germany in the summer of '06, by the way.
